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Authors: Lindsey Davis
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little group, had found another guide and grilled him. 'But the god let out a huge burst of raucous laughter so the workmen fled!' Like me, Gaius avoided spiritual explanations. He lowered his voice tactfully. 'It may have been the supports shifting, after the workmen disturbed them.'
I looked around. In the turmoil of their arrival, the tour guide Barzanes had made good his escape. I reckoned if I tried to find him another day, he would be missing from the site.
Cornelius had a brisk attitude to wonders. 'So, Uncle Marcus! This is a grand place here - so where will you be taking us to next?'
XI
'I am increasingly impressed by my brother!' Back at the hostel, Helena studied his letter more carefully.
'In good Roman homes,' I pointed out to Albia, 'nobody reads correspondence on their dining couch. Helena Justina was brought up in senatorial style. She knows the evening meal is reserved for elegant conversation.'
Helena ignored us. Her father read the Daily Gazette over breakfast; otherwise, in the Camillus household meals were a chance for family rows. So it had been in my own family. We, however, never read on our couches because we could not afford couches; nor did we own scrolls. The only time anybody ever sent us a letter, it was the one from the Fifteenth Legion that said my brother had been killed in Judaea.
'Aulus has changed,' said Helena. 'Now that he is a scholar, suddenly his letters are full of fine detail.'
'Has he gone on to Athens like a good boy?' Never mind fine detail. I wanted to establish whether I was off the hook with his mother.
'Afraid not, darling. He has joined the sightseeing tour.'
'Oh wicked Aulus!' Nux looked up, recognising the growl I used for reprimanding her. As usual she wagged her tail at it.
'He has given us a list of the people in the group, with his comments on them,' Helena went on. 'A map of where their tent was, showing how it related to the palaestra. And a heading for notes on the case - but no notes.'
'Tantalising!'
'He says, sorry, no time - with actually, no bloody ideas! scribbled afterwards, using a different pen nib.'
'That's the old Aulus. Slapdash and unapologetic.' All the same, I would have liked to have him here, to insult him to his face. We were a long way from home. Evenings, by starlight, are when you yearn for the familiar places, things, and people. Even a rather brusque brother-in-law.
'He seems to have equipped himself with a very nice traveller's writing-set,' Helena mused, inspecting the handwriting. 'How useful for his studies - if he ever starts.'
'Unless his inkpots have stupendous seals, the ink will dry out while he's travelling. If he's very unlucky, it will leak over all his white tunics.'
Any minute now, Helena and I would move from missing Aulus to missing our children. To sidetrack that, Helena showed me the list of participants in the travel group Aulus had drawn up for us.
Phineus: organiser; brilliant or appalling, depends who you ask.
Indus: Seems to be disgraced (Crime? Financial? Politics?)
Marinus: widower, looking for new partner; amiable cove
Helvia: widow, well-meaning = fairly stupid
Cleonymus and Cleonyma: come into money (freedmen?) (awful!)
Turcianus Opimus: 'Last chance to see the world before I die'
Ti Sertorius Niger and mousy wifey: ghastly parents; him very rude
Tiberius and Tiberia: horrendous children, dragged by parents
Amaranthus and Minucia: Couple; running away? (adultery?) (fun folk)
Volcasius: no personality = no one wants to sit with him
Statianus and Valeria: Newly-weds (one dainty and dead/one dumb and dazed)
'Rude, but lucid!' I grinned.
We all agreed they sounded dire, though Helena's conscience made her suggest that Volcasius, with whom nobody wanted to sit, was perhaps only shy. The rest of us guffawed. I pictured this Volcasius. bony legs, always in a very large hat; a man who ignored local customs, offended guides and hoteliers, had no sense of danger when boulders were falling down
I looked around. In the turmoil of their arrival, the tour guide Barzanes had made good his escape. I reckoned if I tried to find him another day, he would be missing from the site.
Cornelius had a brisk attitude to wonders. 'So, Uncle Marcus! This is a grand place here - so where will you be taking us to next?'
XI
'I am increasingly impressed by my brother!' Back at the hostel, Helena studied his letter more carefully.
'In good Roman homes,' I pointed out to Albia, 'nobody reads correspondence on their dining couch. Helena Justina was brought up in senatorial style. She knows the evening meal is reserved for elegant conversation.'
Helena ignored us. Her father read the Daily Gazette over breakfast; otherwise, in the Camillus household meals were a chance for family rows. So it had been in my own family. We, however, never read on our couches because we could not afford couches; nor did we own scrolls. The only time anybody ever sent us a letter, it was the one from the Fifteenth Legion that said my brother had been killed in Judaea.
'Aulus has changed,' said Helena. 'Now that he is a scholar, suddenly his letters are full of fine detail.'
'Has he gone on to Athens like a good boy?' Never mind fine detail. I wanted to establish whether I was off the hook with his mother.
'Afraid not, darling. He has joined the sightseeing tour.'
'Oh wicked Aulus!' Nux looked up, recognising the growl I used for reprimanding her. As usual she wagged her tail at it.
'He has given us a list of the people in the group, with his comments on them,' Helena went on. 'A map of where their tent was, showing how it related to the palaestra. And a heading for notes on the case - but no notes.'
'Tantalising!'
'He says, sorry, no time - with actually, no bloody ideas! scribbled afterwards, using a different pen nib.'
'That's the old Aulus. Slapdash and unapologetic.' All the same, I would have liked to have him here, to insult him to his face. We were a long way from home. Evenings, by starlight, are when you yearn for the familiar places, things, and people. Even a rather brusque brother-in-law.
'He seems to have equipped himself with a very nice traveller's writing-set,' Helena mused, inspecting the handwriting. 'How useful for his studies - if he ever starts.'
'Unless his inkpots have stupendous seals, the ink will dry out while he's travelling. If he's very unlucky, it will leak over all his white tunics.'
Any minute now, Helena and I would move from missing Aulus to missing our children. To sidetrack that, Helena showed me the list of participants in the travel group Aulus had drawn up for us.
Phineus: organiser; brilliant or appalling, depends who you ask.
Indus: Seems to be disgraced (Crime? Financial? Politics?)
Marinus: widower, looking for new partner; amiable cove
Helvia: widow, well-meaning = fairly stupid
Cleonymus and Cleonyma: come into money (freedmen?) (awful!)
Turcianus Opimus: 'Last chance to see the world before I die'
Ti Sertorius Niger and mousy wifey: ghastly parents; him very rude
Tiberius and Tiberia: horrendous children, dragged by parents
Amaranthus and Minucia: Couple; running away? (adultery?) (fun folk)
Volcasius: no personality = no one wants to sit with him
Statianus and Valeria: Newly-weds (one dainty and dead/one dumb and dazed)
'Rude, but lucid!' I grinned.
We all agreed they sounded dire, though Helena's conscience made her suggest that Volcasius, with whom nobody wanted to sit, was perhaps only shy. The rest of us guffawed. I pictured this Volcasius. bony legs, always in a very large hat; a man who ignored local customs, offended guides and hoteliers, had no sense of danger when boulders were falling down
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